Welcome to San Francisco. Smoked. The northern California fires fogged the streets, hazed the skyscrapers. The Golden Gate Bridge was nowhere to be seen. San Francisco Bay? The blue Pacific sky? No more. Schools had been closed to protect kids, people went masked to protect lungs, life was being lived indoors.

I turned to Lyft to criss-cross the Opaque City. Arch rival to Uber, the company has a softer reputation. And for sure its San Francisco drivers were friendly, chatty, often sharing… and, as it turned out, could actually be very supportive.